The Butcher Of 'Gangs'

It has been five years since Daniel Day-Lewis last made a film appearance, but he takes a trip back to the silver screen with his latest project, "Gangs Of New York."

Day-Lewis won an Academy Award for portraying Christy Brown in 1989's "My Left Foot". With a Golden Globe nomination and the Best Actor Awards from the New York and Los Angeles Critics Associations, he's on the road to win his second Oscar for playing another true character: Bill Poole, also known as "Bill The Butcher" in Martin Scorsese's epic drama.

"[Poole was] a notorious 'no rules' street fighter, mayhem artist, die hard nativist … In other words, a racist and a bigot," the actor explains about his character in "Gangs Of New York." "You know, whose God given duty it was, as an American patriot, to throw stones at everyone who got off the boat."

But, Day-Lewis credits Poole as a complex man Poole with a dark humorous side as well. "Even as he was carving up his opponents, he'd be in very good humor about the whole thing," says Day-Lewis.

Day-Lewis wasn't able to do too much research on Poole because of the limited amount of documentation about the character. But, somehow, he was able to capture the brutal and monstrous side of the man portrayed in legends. He recalls, "apparently, Martin [Scorcese] said to somebody, when he was asked why he asked me to do 'Gangs Of New York,' he said that he thought I'd understand the nature of rage."

Some critics say Day-Lewis's method acting could be difficult, demanding and not fun.

"I do have fun," counters Day-Lewis. "People say on my behalf that it's difficult for me. I've never really said that about myself. But the pleasure of the work for me is to go into that. That's where the pleasure is. Otherwise I wouldn't do it. I mean, I don't want to go through my life torturing myself. "

But, will it be another five years until he does another movie? The actor says he does not know when his next project will be. He does say he pick parts that are going to help him learn.

"The truth is, I have no idea what it is I'm going to learn," says Day-Lewis. "But I somehow have a sense that I will. There's something there that I need to discover. For Bill, at the very outset, when I was still able to look at him from a distance, he was so exotic to me and so mysterious."

Perhaps he will find the same interest in a new character sooner, rather than later.